Facility
Did you know? Cigarette butts cause pollution after just 9 seconds
Nicotine, metals and microplastics are major pollutants and infiltrate the environment within just a few seconds. It’s time for action.
As an education institution, we are legally obliged to keep our buildings and premises smoke free. For that reason, our students smoke on the pavements just off university premises, and as a result the streets are littered with cigarette butts. This causes environmental pollution, added work for our Facilities staff and visual nuisance.
The Bin Your Butt pilot was launched in collaboration with students, behavioural experts and Facilities staff.
With a behavioural model as the starting point, the aim is to change students’ routines and actually make sure cigarette butts end up in bins and ashtrays. The voting bins are the star of the show and their purpose is to connect positive emotions with the desired behaviour. The key objectives of this successful measure are:
- Control among the target group – students decide what to do
- A bold, attractive campaign – that aligns with the generation
- Activation among the target group – students can send in suggestions for new questions
Results since May 2024:
- 20 voting bins installed (we started with just two, now there are 20!);
- 40 suggestions for questions submitted;
- 10 wrapped Bin Your Butt bins installed;
- satisfied neighbourhood and Facilities staff;
- two locations in Leiden, and plans for the campus in The Hague.
Of course, quitting smoking is an even better solution. But at least this is one way we’re tackling plastic pollution caused by our students!
For more information about this campaign, or if you’d like to continue the conversation, send us an email through the website or send us a DM.
